The lab rat
by Johannah R. Ashling
Summary: After keira is promoted as on observer for greater projects, she is placed in section B. But what's the deal with the dark warrior project and is there a greater reason for her promotion? read and find out. AU-story
1. section B

Ok people, this is my first story ever posted. You can say if you like it or not, but please keep is civil. I know that there a possibly typos in it, but keep in mind I from Belgium, and that I speak Dutch.

Any of the characters used in this story aren't mine. I say this once, so I won't say it again.

On with the story.

* * *

Chapter 1: Section B

will Keira Hagai please report herself at Mr. Errol's office?"

This was a first time. Usually when I was assigned to do an experiment, they would just sent a messenger to tell me. So either I was about to get fired or there was something big going on.

When I made my way to Mr. Errol's office I couldn't help but feel nervous. Who wouldn't? Mr. Errol was next to 'baron' praxis ,like we call him, the most powerful person in the whole lab. He could fire you just because he didn't like your face.

The walk to the office went slow, but to me it wasn't long enough. It was rumored that Mr. Errol was a true gentleman in his private life, however we only knew him as a tyrant at work.

I knocked 3 times on the wooden surface of the door. Mr. Errol likes expensive things. The door only proves that statement. You see, wood is rarely used these days, it was replaced by metal or other alloys. So it was kind of hard to find professional wooden material in a place like haven city.

I didn't have to wait long before I was allowed to enter. I was greeted by no one else, but Errol himself…

"come in, have a seat please."

…who was extremely nice at the moment. Was this his way to torture him employees? Right before he told them they were fired? Such thoughts really didn't help at all.

" do you want something? Thee, coffee or something else?"

I couldn't help but imagine him doing some kind of poison in the drink. Again with the bad thoughts.

"no thank you."

Oh shit, please don't take this the wrong way.

"Ok… so…Miss hagai-"

"Please call me Keira!"

Oh god, I'm such an idiot. I'm defiantly going to get fired for interrupting him.

"keira it is. You come from a small village named sandover, correct?"

Where is this leading to?

"yes, that's right."

"you lived with your father, your mother died when you were young. You worked at an early age as a mechanic, but was given the chance to become a professor when you turned 15. You graduated at the age of 18, instead of the normal age of 23, and became one of our employees. You are now working a full year for us, so that makes you 19, but you are one of our top workers."

What.The.Hell? What is this guy trying to say?

"so because you are one of our best, both Mr. Praxis and I decided you deserved a more worthy job. You will work in section B, starting from tomorrow. Any questions?"

Come on say something, like: I'm flattered or I don't know how to thank you sir.

"n-no, e-everything is clear."

Well it's better than nothing, at least I responded.

* * *

By the time I came out of the office, my shift was already over.

I decided I would go home and call my dad.

I went to my small apartment, which was only 2 blocks away. It wasn't very much, but enough for me to live in. It had 3 room. A living/bed/study-room, nothing big. In one corner there was my bed, which also served as my couch. in another corner, there was a closet, which obviously held all of my clothes in it. In the corner on the other side of the room there was a small desk, filled with papers, all for my work at the lab. The last corner contained a bookrack, with all different types of books. I like to read a lot, it doesn't matter what kind of book it is, as long as it has letters in it. In the middle of the room there lay a pile of cushions of all sizes, laid there just so I could crash into them, the moment I come home from a very tiring day.

Which was what I did, after closing the door, and throwing of my coat.

After a few moments of pure comfort, I went to kitchen to get a drink, silently cursing myself for not taking Errol's offer for a nice cub of hot liquid.

Taking the communicator, I tried to contact my father. After five minutes of fruitlessly trying I gave up. It was 3 days that I didn't hear anything from him, I'm starting to worry if he was alright. I shrugged it off though, his communicator probably just broke down, it wasn't the first time after all.

I suddenly felt very tired, I just couldn't keep my eyes open. So deciding it was bedtime, I went into the small bathroom, going over the whole ritual, before going to bed, just seconds before my light went out.

* * *

The morning after felt like I was in a daze.

First I was rushed into a highly secured section. Section B I assumed.

Then I met with a red-haired woman who wore her hair in dreadlocks, and was tattooed in her face.

" Ok, listen up. Even with the high security, there is still a great risk that one of our 'lab rats' is giving you some troubles. If they attack or even threaten you in any way, do not hesitate to call out for me or torn"

She pointed to an equally tattooed guy, that just like her, wore his hair in dreadlocks.

" oh yeah, my name is Ashelin praxis by the way. Just so you know who you have to call out for when they are jumping you."

Ashelin Praxis? The daughter of the baron? And… wait did she just say I'm in great danger if I work here. By the precursors, why did I accept this job?

Suddenly out of nowhere a blond girl popped up, giving me nearly a heart-attack.

"Hi, my name is Tess, I'm the weapon specialist here, and I'm assigned to educate you in the ways of section B. Welcome to the team.

I want to die now.

" so keira.. which project do you have to work on?"

Let's see… It must stand somewhere on the paperwork we received earlier.

" I have to work on the dark warrior program and observe experiment 154 042432, who ever that may be."

I still do not agree why they use other elves to test on, even if they are prisoners and they deserve the torture.

It took me awhile to register that Tess had stopped walking. When I turned around The blond weapon expert looked as white as a sheet.

"Tess. What's wrong."

She looked up at me, and gave me that nervous laugh. She was definitely hiding something.

"nothing, nothing at all."

"come on, spill already."

Sighing she walked over to me and grabbed my shoulders

"Please keira promise me you will be careful."

I don't like this.

"what for?"

"just promise me."

"ok, I promise."

She seemed to relax.

"tell me."

I needed to know what was so important about this guy.

"he… he is a little bit violent… He already killed 5 guards and his previous observer. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"don't worry, I'm sure I'll be fine."

I so wish I could believe that myself

* * *

This was it.

Experiment 154 042432's room

I'll just walk in, take some notes, and get out. Nothing difficult at all.

Huh, I'm hopeless.

I went to door and put my hand on the fingerprint analyzer . I tried to locate Tess, who was just rounding a corner, giving me the thumbs up, before going back to her own business. I signed.

Hearing the dreaded beep that said I was clear to go in, I prepared myself for the worst. Who knew what kind of monster was behind this door. It could be mutated beyond recognition that it was ever an elf.

Taking a final deep breath I walked in.

* * *

So that's it for, if you want to read more of the story, than please review.


	2. Experiment 154 042432

Hey people. Before I went on vacation to Turkey, I wanted to add another chapter to my story. I'll try to make this one longer.

p.s.: I'm always open for suggestions. If anyone has an idea of what should happen in this story tell me.

On with the story

* * *

Chapter 2: Experiment 154 042432

I…was shocked. More than shocked. I mean…this isn't what I ever thought it would be.

I expected a 40 year-old male that looked like he had fought the battle between heaven and hell. I expected him to have half of his body covered with cyber-technology with huge muscles . I expected him to be an ugly scarred mutated freak that smelled like the rotten corpses he created.

I certainly didn't expect this.

Experiment 154 042432 was a 20 year-old, handsome boy.

I took his whole appearance in. Long blond, swept-back hair with green roods, Blue eyes that were currently glaring me to death. He had a good built, the body of a warrior, but not bulldozer-like. He still had al his body-parts, and he had a clean, masculine smell. To say it shortly, he was a men with a body to die for.

The sound of the door automatically closing brought me back to reality.

I must have looked stupid, with my mound hanging slightly open, my eyes wide in shock, and with my 'blown-away' facial expression and body language.

Closing my mouth with an audible click, I tried to break the awkward silence with possibly more awkward words.

"So… what's your name?"

Silence

"Ok, well…I'm going to ask you some questions, so please answer them, then I'll leave you alone."

For a moment I thought he would jump me. The angry look he held on his face, was utterly frightening. I was completely sure about it, that if it wasn't for the chains, that linked him to the wall, I wouldn't be in the land of the living anymore.

I let out a long breath. Turning to my list I read the questions out loud.

"Are you feeling ill?"

No reaction. Next question.

"Do you sleep, eat and drink regular?"

Still nothing. But he seemed to listen.

"Do you…"

What the hell. What's that for a question.

"Do you like it in here?"

The first thing I noted, was the hard, cold floor pressing against my back, the next was blondies breath in my face, and last but not least was pain. The man's whole body was pressing so hard against mine, he was practically crushing me.

I had been stupid, reckless, to stand so close to somebody so dangerous.

Then he spoke, more like harshly whispering in my ear.

"You have no idea what It is like, to be me"

He then let me go. And just as fast as he pinned me to the ground, I was gone.

* * *

Ever since that day I swore I would never make such a rookies mistake.

I still didn't had any contact with my father, but I just let it slide.

A week passed, and I reclaimed my position as blondies observer. I was confident I would get him to talk to me, one way or another that men was going to give me some answers. I decided to make my own list, so that way I won't have another of those violent episodes.

I found him in his room sitting on the plain uncomfortable bed chained to the wall, however he wasn't alone. The previous month he had gotten a roommate. The poor guy had fallen in a pool of dark eco and came back out as an ottsel, or so Tess said. This must be him.

"Ok, blondie, let's start over. My name is Keira Hagai, and like it or not, I'm your new observer."

Maybe that sounded a little to overconfident, but at least I got their attention. Before I could utter another word I was interrupted by the small companion of blondie.

"By the precursors, why do YOU always get the hot women, it's not fair."

I felt my face growing hot.

Bowing down to the ottsels eyelevel and offering a sweet smile

"You must be blondies roommate?"

He flashed me a big grin

"Why yes, babe, names daxter."

He held out his hand…or paw for me to shake

"nice to meet some _civil_ people around here."

I gave the blue-eyed hotshot a pointed glare, while shaking the rodents hand.

"I see you already met Jakkie-boy over there."

I blinked.

"Who?"

He slapped his hand over his face.

"You didn't even told her your name?"

Then I got an idea

"hey dax, since blondie is obviously too busy sulking over there, could you please, answer some of the questions?"

Yeah I had very much fun letting daxter answer all the embarrassing questions about Mr. hotshot, while the person in question, was sitting in a dark corner, occasionally squirming nervously.

Revenge is so sweet.

* * *

The record room was a mess. It took me half an hour to find blondies medical file and it wasn't very useful. I intended to find out what the dark warrior project exactly was. So far every document, every reference leaded me to the same file. However, the file in question was yet to be found. Giving up for the day I checked out and went home.

On my way out I met Errol, or more like he ran after me.

"Hello Keira"

Be polite, just be polite.

"Oh, hello Mr. Errol, how was your day?"

Man that sounded so old

"I'm fine, what about you. Our lab rat isn't causing any trouble."

Again with the lab rat. Why does it bother me so much?

"So far my day went perfect. But what I meant to ask you. In the record room I was searching for the document of the dark warrior project, however I can't find it."

I saw his eyes darkening.

"Well it's kind of a top secret file, that nobody is allowed to look into…"

There goes that plan.

"…but since you work on the very same project I'll make an exception. I'll do my best to get my hands on that file."

Tsj, yeah right, liar.

"Thank you, Mr. Errol."

Yeah, thanks for nothing, I'm sure you'll make it harder for me, instead of helping.

"please call me Errol, you can drop the formalities."

Wasn't it he that demanded to call him MR. Errol in the first place?

"Ok then…Errol, here's my stop."

I'll be glad to get rid of that guy.

"Well, goodbye then."

"goodbye, see you tomorrow."

Unfortunately.

* * *

It was raining, a lot.

On days like this I'm starting to remember the good days in Sandover.

Those glorious days that are so dear to me.

My mother died giving birth to me. It was a difficult chose my father had to make. It was or saving my mother's life and losing me, or saving my life and losing my mother. He chose for me to live.

Ever since that day he always tried to be there for me, to serve as both a mother and father. He tried so hard. cooking, cleaning, reading me bedtime stories, educating me, he did it all just for me.

The capital of Sandover was rather small. There were only 42, now 41, villagers. I knew everybody there. Like the mayor or the bird lady. I really didn't mind I was the only girl or person of my age in the whole village. Well there was a guy, the sculptor, that came close to my age, but even then he was still like 5 years older than me, and the only thing he cared about was his 'muse'. That stinking animal really pissed me of. Always pulling pranks on me and then running behind the sculptor for cover. The coward!

When I was 12 I started to get interested in mechanics. Oh, I can still imagine the look on daddy's face when I showed him the first zoomer I ever build. He was so proud, so happy that his little girl made such a difficult thing. Unfortunately I crashed it in one of the old precursor remnants. Such a shame.

Then I turned 15. It was my first trip outside of the village. I went together with my father to haven city. We went to a festival, a present from daddy. He said that the festivals in cities were much more interesting than the ones in Sandover. I remember that one stand, were they showed all kinds of chemical establishments. You could try to figure it out, but so far nobody succeeded. I tried it, and surprisingly I did succeed in figuring it out. One of the professors, who I later learned was professor bleak, offered me a test. He said that if everything went good I would get a scholarship.

That's how I ended in the university, as a kid genius. Life there was hard. Not only was I on my own because I had to move to haven city, but also your grades had to be at least 65 of the total score just to pas your grade. I graduated on my 18th.

Not long after I was accepted in haven cities lab. I started in section G, a minor section that were dealing with smaller projects. A half year later, I was placed in section D, to help creating small electronic things, like electric Toothbrushes, or communicators. Not even 2 weeks ago I was replaced again in section B, a section that experimented with prisoners and was highly secured. There I met Experiment 154 042432 of the dark warrior project and his roommate. Blondie attacked me the first session, but then again who wouldn't when somebody asked you if you like the place where you were used as a guinea pig.

Besides his violent outburst and Tess' warning, I couldn't help but wonder why he is a prisoner in the first place. I should ask Tess.

* * *

Ok people that was the 2th chapter of 'The lab rat'. For those who reviewed and encouraged me I made this chapter exactly 265 words longer than the previous chapter. Enjoy.

p.s.: next chapter will have different point of views. Please review.


	3. the dark warrior project

OH MY FCKING GOD, IT TOOK ME SOOOOOO LONG TO UPDATE MY STORY!! Sorry people, but with school starting little over a month ago, I had it so busy, I just couldn't find the time to write another chapter. So here it is. Chapter 3, hope you enjoy it.

p.s.: this chapter is written from different point of views. Just so you know.

Pain… I could only feel the razor-sharp terrible pain cutting through my very being. I wish it could stop. I wish the pain would just disappear. I wish… I wish I could just die.

And I couldn't help myself… I screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Every night I prayed to every god listening, to let it all stop. And I don't care If I have to pray 20 more years for it. I only want it to stop, for once and always.

I can feel what is happening to me, what they are doing to me. I can feel the darkness inside of me.

But that face, that horrible face. It is always looking at me, mocking me, laughing with my pain. I hate that face, I hate the red hair attached to it. And one day, I swear, I will rip his face off.

It stopped, the pain stopped. I wouldn't be able to move properly, see properly, hear properly or think properly. But that's alright, because it doesn't hurt anymore.

They dragged me back to my room, that horrible clean space. It smelled like a hospital, the walls are white, my poor excuse for a bed is white, the sheets laying on it were white, even the lights are white.

I heard a familiar beep, but I could place where it came from.

"Hey blondie, it's me again."

(Keira's point of view)

I was told blondie was in therapy. Nothing new of course, seeing as I'm working in a lab. However the absence of Tess was surprising. Normally she would greet me every morning. Then we would go to the cafeteria and drink a cup of tea while going over our program. After that we would say goodbye and split up.

Today however I was alone. And when I say alone, I mean it literally. One of our sections labs exploded. How it happened I don't know and I don't care. Anyway, all of the employees are busy trying to save what's left to safe. However, Tess is in no way related to that lab, so why isn't she greeting me?

I found the answer soon enough.

Apparently Daxter was at that particular moment going under some test in the ruined lab. He got a few scratches, so now Tess made it her job to patch the rodent up.

Deciding that since Tess is busy, it was no use to stay here any longer. Blondie should be back by now anyway, so if I go check on him now and begin our daily session, I can go home early.

I hummed a tune my father learned me. I felt good today, maybe it was because I haven't seen Erol yet. Every day I saw him when I checked in. Greeting me with that with that cocky smirk, walking next to me, to close for comfort, and dare I to say it… FLIRTING with me. I always felt so disgusting.

I put my finger on the fingerprint-scanner, and heard the familiar beep that gave me the permission to open the door.

When I walked in I didn't look up to him, confident he would be chained to the wall, sulking in a corner.

"Hey Blondie, it's me again."

I turned around facing him and I yelped the sight. There he lay on his stomach, without a shirt on. But that wasn't why I got nearly a heart attack. He had that look on his face, like he was a trapped animal.

"Blondie, it's me Keira."

He didn't seem to recognize me at all. I stepped closer, feeling his pulls and checking his pupils. They where wide, like those of a drug addict. I realized then that his treatment must have caused this. Without thinking about it, I stroked his sweaty hair out of his face. He seemed to have a small fever. My touch seemed to calm him down, but as I stood up to get him some fresh water to cool off, he began squirming again.

"I'll be right back, ok?"

He didn't stop moving, or trying to at least. Instead he grabbed my hand, but there was no power behind it. I sighed, pushing my previous plan overboard, and I sat beside him.

"What have they done to me."

(Tess' point of view)

"… so I told that guy, ' hey fatso, if the man can't pay, than you just have to make him wash dishes or something. You don't have to kill him for it' and then that fat guy said…"

I couldn't help laughing, he was so funny. No matter what he said, I loved it. He kept talking and talking, but that made him even more charming. Still, my mind lingered on one unsaid question.

"How did you get here?"

His eyes darkened and I feared I said something wrong. Just as fast as his mood became depressed, he was cheery again. Still the pain remained.

"The kids from my village said I was a coward. so to prove them wrong , I stood on the edge of pool of dark eco. Suddenly I heard a noise and I jumped…literally. I fell in the pool with the dark eco and came back like I am now."

The poor guy

"oh, daxter that is so-"

"don't worry around it, being small and furry has it's advances. Like, I can crawl up and under openings where normal elves would never be able to get, al the ladies love my new cuter form, and… because of it I met Jak, you know my roommate, experiment 154 04… something like that.

"you really like Jak don't you?"

"of course, he is my first, best and only friend."

"I'm I not your friend?"

I felt a little hurt. Doesn't he like me then?

" Nooo, no, no, that's not what I mean. I mean yes you are my friend, but you are that and so much more."

His blush was as bright as mine, probably from realizing what he just implied.

"uhum, well anyway, I didn't dare to go back to my village. Somehow I ended up in haven city. I was spotted by a krimzon guard and that's how I ended here. At first Jak was as hard as a rock. No matter what I said, he just wouldn't speak to me. There was one problem though, there is only one bed. Jaks bed. The first week I slept on the floor, but the longer we stayed together the more he socialized with me. I guess living completely isolated for 5 years is a bid to much. He started responding to my blabbering and one night said I could sleep on his chest. From then on we became friends."

It was yet again a very nice story, and I didn't doubt it was the truth. I frowned. There was just one thing I didn't understand.

"I thought they only experimented on judged prisoners?"

He gave me a weird look.

"Really? Well we are prisoners, but both Jakkie-boy and I didn't hurt a fly before we were put in the box."

(Jaks point of view)

It took a half hour to make my mind work right again. The first thing I noticed was that I was holding someone's hand, next the person attached to it. But I was surprised that the person in question, was bitch-queen nr. 01, Keira Hagai. The must have overdone it this time, because there is no way that the women would be concerned about my health. Then again, that was her job. That's right, she worked for _Erol_. I can only imagine what kind of plan that pig made up. The woman must be part of it. Yes that's right, that's his plan. Trying to make me trust the woman and use that trust to destroy me.

"What did they do to you?"

Doesn't she know? doesn't she know that they pump me all night long full of dark eco? I realized now, that she knows even less then I do. But it could be a trick. I might as well be digging my own grave. But she has to know. She should know how her boss sees things, and how I feel about it. I spoke, my own voice seemed foreign, even to me.

"You want to know? Then why don't you ask your precious boss? Ask him why he pumps me full of that dark shit, ask him why he tortures me, why he hurts me and laugh with it, ask him why he is making me a monster. But he won't answer, so I'll answer you. He does it because he wants the perfect warrior, one without emotions, without feelings. A demon so evil and dark, it's mere presence is enough to suffocate you. That's what he wants. That way he and praxis can get their hands on haven city, just before they take over the world."

She shook, I could feel it in my hand. Her mouth opened and closed, like a fish. she tried to form words, but no sound came out. She finally took a deep breath and spoke. Her words shocked me.

"If that's the case, then it's our duty to stop him."

I know what she meant. She stood up, released my hand and walked to the door. I stopped her. She didn't face me, but I knew I had her full attention.

"Jak, Jak Mar."

I saw her cheeks move, and I knew she was smiling.

"you're welcome…Jak."

It's longer than the previous chapter I think. Anyway, to get things straight.

Someone said it was Erol and not Errol, small mistake, too small to bother fixing in the previous chapters.

This is an alternate universe story. In this story Jak, Daxter, Tess, Keira and others never met before.

I don't like stories where the girls are the damsels in distress and the boys the princes on the white horse. I my story the girls can fight. Look it this way, if Keira and the others survived without being raped, robbed, and killed, then they must have some strength. Some story remind me of war-stories, were the males go out fighting for their nation and the wife's stay home with the children, drinking thee with the other women and anxiously waiting for their dear husbands. It's so, non-Jak and daxter. Beside I'm a girl to and I do a fighting sport (karate). It would be so against my believes.

I'm trying to make my chapters longer and update them faster. I'm really trying, but with all that homework (I swear we have to do more than college-students). So please forgive me.


	4. Getting to know you

I'm in a bit of a twist. Really. It's about my plot. I have a few ideas, but they are nothing more than lose bits and pieces, so I'm still struggling to make it a good story. More action is about to come and if some things aren't really clear than please let me know. Something happened at a training of karate, and I'm going to use the experience in my story, I thought it was fitting. Ashelin, Torn, Praxis and Erol are going to play a bigger role in this story. You will find out soon what the thing is with Keira's father.

(Keira's point of view)

_Jak…Jak…_

The name kept repeating itself inside my head. It gave me a certain sense of satisfaction that not only I found out his name, but that is was jak himself that told me.

"what a nice name…"

It was muttered, as if it was a secret.

"what did you say?"

I jumped. I completely forgot Tess was with me. Probably because she kept so quiet.

"oh nothing…well, actually there is something."

She looked at me curiously.

"what is it?"

I couldn't hurt telling her, now would it?

"Blondie told me just moments ago what his name is."

If I didn't received her attention earlier, I certainly had it now

"Tell me! Tell me!"

She jumped up and down, like a child in a candy store.

"Okay, okay. His name is Jak, Jak Mar."

She stopped jumping and adopted a thoughtful look

"Mar you say? Isn't that the royal bloodline of haven city."

I shrugged

"He's probably just someone that happened to share the same last name. We both know all members of the royal family are dead and buried."

Still, it made me wonder.

"yeah, you're probably right. On the other side, he has the appearance of a true Mar, don't you think?"

Shit, I see a shock of red hair coming our way.

"Well, let's just drop it. It is probably nothing."

Please don't notice me, PLEASE DON'T NOTICE ME!!!!!!!

"Err, Tess…"

No more words needed to be said. Tess knew very well how much I liked my boss…which isn't very much. She just nodded and I dashed away.

_Dear dairy,_

_Today I found out blondies name…you know… experiment 154 042432.  
His name is jak, jak Mar. it totally fits him, but why I cannot say. Tess and I had some type of discussion about his last name. She thinks there might be a chance he is part of the royal bloodline of haven city, but I said it was probably just coincident seeing as all the members are DEAD! If there was a member still alive, Krew wouldn't be the so called 'temporarily ruler' of this whole darn place. The person that ever got it in his right mind to make Krew the boss is truly stupid. Krew is everything except a good leader. The only thing he can lead is the army of krimzon guards. And so ugly and fat and…I'm going to stop now, I nearly threw up because of the image I created inside my mind._

_Still haven't heard anything about my father, I'm really starting to worry now. Maybe I should take a day of and go to sandover. On the other hand I'm afraid in which condition I'm going to find Jak, when I decide to come back.__ I'll explain what happened later, 'cause my food just arrived._

I put my notebook down on my bed and went to the door. Yes, it is a notebook, not a dairy. I write everything in it, from journal entries to formulas. Present from my daddy when I graduated.

I ordered pizza again. I can cook, very good actually. I just don't have the time to fix myself a proper dinner.

My pizza was lukewarm already. That's the problem with take-out dinners. They promise al kind of things, but is it actually true?

While I let my pizza part heat up in the microwave, I went downstairs to get my mail. I don't expect to get anything, or at least, anything useful.

Just like I thought. One bunch of junk.

Junk, Junk, Junk and oh, what is this? More jun… wait what is this? It looks like a letter. Nothing official, but al letter nonetheless.

Opening it, I nearly dropped it. I could feel urge to cry coming up.

IF YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR FATHER AGAIN,  
THEN HAND OVER THE DARK ECO-FREAK  
14 DAYS FROM NOW AT THE STADIUM.  
YOU WILL GET UNTIL MIDNIGHT  
OR ELSE YOUR FATHER WILL DIE.

And then, everything went black.

(Tess' point of view)

I distantly heard my phone ring. Damn thing.

I rolled of my bed, miserably hitting my bedroom floor. I cursed loudly.

I have to admit, while I am considered to be a cheerful person, I'm very moody in the morning.

The phone was still ringing. It must be important…or a sick joke. Who would call me in the middle of the night?

Picking up the phone I noticed I got a small bump on my head. The bump was quickly forgotten when someone shouted from the other side:

"THEY TOOK HIM, THEY TOOK MY DADDY!"

(keira's point of view)

When I woke up, I was still on the floor, the exact way I fell when I fainted.

I called Tess first, being the only person that came to mind.

Now she is sitting next to me on my bed, waiting for my explanation.

"so…"

I signed. It was me who called her, so it was me that was going to tell her. I showed her the letter.

"this came with the mail this evening."

Silence. She read the letter, her eyes widened.

"this…I-I…what should we d-do, and w-who are they talking about?"

I thought about it for a minute, and suddenly it clicked.

"Jak…"

She looked at me. All kinds of emotions shone in her eyes. Confusion, but at the same time realization, and…fear. I saw the question in her eyes and answered.

"Jak, he…he is a part of the dark warrior project. They inject him with dark eco…how he managed to survive I don't know, but…I know they mean him."

I felt like they split me in half. One part wanting to hand over jak and free my father, but…the other part wants to protect jak form the torture that it would cause and trying to work for another solution, even if it killed me. I was surprised by my second half, scared even.

"You should tell Jak…it's them they want, so…"

I know what she means. After all, it's his life we are talking about.

"…and also, even if we all agree on handing him over, the problem remains he is a prisoner."

It could only mean one thing.

"we will have to free him."

It felt like the first day I worked in this section. I was nervous.

Taking a deep breath, I entered. Daxter wasn't there. It was the plan. Tess would take him with her so I could talk with Jak all alone.

He lay on his bed, eyes closed and hands behind his head. I know he knows I'm here. Is sat down on the bed, on the small space that wasn't covered with his body. I stared at him until he opened his eyes.

"Something wrong?"

I swallowed. how could I do this to him.

"how did you get here?"

It is meant as a sign of trust. If he opened up to me, and answered my question, than it would mean he trusted me.

"please, tell me."

I looked in his eyes, they reminded me of sandover. Those sweet days…will l ever see the villagers again? He signed and sat up. He was close, very close. I blushed. He was warm…comfortable, it only intensified my blush.

"I don't remember much before I was six. One day I woke up on the street, my head bleeding. I only knew my name, and that was it. A lady took me in and threatened my wound, while I was trying to restore my memory. She made it clear that I could not live with her, but that was always welcome to jump in when I could not manage on my own. I stopped talking ever since then. Stealing food and water and sleeping in an old, abandoned house and learning myself how to fight, was how I passed by. That was until I met a group of other children. Just like me, they had nobody. No parents, no home, no hope of ever finding one. They invited me in there group and I accepted. Life went for the better. Each one of us had a job. One got food, one got water, one protected everybody, etc… . At first I was in charge to steal food for all of us, together with another boy. My ability as a channeler fascinated the others, so after I perfected my technique, I became the best guard of our camp. We lived in the ruins at the outskirt of havencity, close to the eco-sources. Then the so called people of the adoption centre came. Gol and Maia. I knew the moment they came to us they were evil. Not because they would rip us apart by letting others adopting us, because I know they wouldn't. No they just needed somebody to do their dirty jobs and bring them dark eco. Who would do better than children. They were small, fast and knew how to worm themselves out of every situation. I fought them and I won. However our little fight drew attention. Krimzon guards came out of nowhere, and I knew what I had to do to keep the others safe. I handed myself over and went with them. I was 15 then. They put me in a small cell, together with 7 others. There was barely any light, let alone enough food and water. We sat there for days. Until Erol came. He brought us to a room, well…more like kicked us in it. First he tested our channel ability. He threw all kinds of eco at us. Green, blue, red and yellow. Each one of us survived, until they threw dark eco at us. 2 of us died. After the test we went back to our cell. There was never a moment of peace. The constant issue of food, water and freedom would play up. We were always fighting. One day, one of us got so fed up, he took the guys head and banged it so hard against the wall, the poor guy died. The 4 remaining, including me, where injected everyday with dark eco. More and more and more. It would go for hours, Erol was always there, mocking us, laughing at us. When they were finally done, Erol wasn't. No, he would bead us, kick us, punch us, especially when he had a bad mood, and we couldn't move. Sometimes we would be unconscious for days. He did everything to break us. And it worked."

He pulled his shirt off. I would have blushed if I wasn't for the scars that lined his back. I almost cried, tracing them. He went on.

"when everybody but me died, I was placed in this room, where everything is to clean, to bright, to white. But it doesn't make it any better. Now Erol would have only me to torture, and torturing he did. He loves to hear me scream, he said so himself. Sometimes I cried, sometimes I wasn't even conscious enough to cry. I was all alone until I met daxter. He made this prison less horrible. No matter what happened he was always blabbering, cheering me up. He became my friend very quickly and I wouldn't lose him for the world. My previous observer hurt him, and I flipped. It was the first time I truly experienced the effect of the dark eco. It was like at that moment another side took control. I lost it and killed the man along with the guards. Then you came…"

I couldn't hold myself any longer. I threw myself in his arms, knocking the both of us down, flat on the bed and I cried in his chest. I faintly felt him returning the embrace, a little awkward but still. He probably wasn't used to it anymore, having been isolated for 5 years. At that moment I felt save, like I could take on the world. He was warm, just as before, and I wished I could stay like this forever. I wish I could forget all the things that are happening around me. But things wouldn't stay that way. Because soon reality kicked back in. I pulled back, watching him closely.

"I'm sorry…it was just…sad…"

He sat back up

"Don't worry about it. It's nice to know somebody cares about you. Even if it is just a little bit."

I smiled.

"The reason I am here…Yesterday I got a letter."

I reached for my pocked and took the letter out of it. He took it from me, and read it. His eyes widened. I spoke again, before he could make any conclusions.

"I'm not doing it. You don't deserve to be handled as a weapon. And besides, who knows what they will use you for. You're my friend, so don't think I'm only concerned about the wellbeing of the people."

He looked perplexed

"Then why are you here?"

I gave him a sad smile.

"Even if I am not going to trade you, I still want my daddy back. So what I'm asking you…"

I looked straight in his eyes

"…help me free my father."

Ok. Longest chapter. I know, I know, it has been al long time since I've updated. But I hope the longer chapter makes up for that. Next chapter: the mission begins.

PLEASE I'M BEGGING YOU, TELL ME WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE HAPPENING. I'M IN A TWIST WITH MY PLOT.


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